


The Abyss

by PunnyMcGee



Series: We Walk A Lonely Road [3]
Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Canon Dialogue, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Gore, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Trauma, everyone cries, i don't think this counts as body horror?, i'm gunna tag it anyways though, let grown men cry 2018, prompto cries the most tho im sorry prompto, rated M for all the above tags, save towards the end, sorry the entire first chapter is almost entirely canon dialogue, that was me c:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13616154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunnyMcGee/pseuds/PunnyMcGee
Summary: With some intel from Cor, the Chocobros head into the Balouve Mines and make for the deepest part to try and find a royal tomb. But the goblins that live there are a royal pain in the ass, and to make matters worse, they end up causing a cave-in that separates Noctis from the others. When he comes to at the bottom of the mine, disoriented and alone, he finds that getting out isn't going to be that easy.In fact, he's lucky if he'll be able to escape with his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _But there, is a light_  
>  In the dark, and I feel its warmth  
> In my hands, and my heart  
> Why can't I hold on?
> 
>  
> 
> This was HEAVILY inspired by the 41st episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, so kinda spoilers for that if you haven't watched it yet or are going to watch it. The title of the fic is the same as the episode.

"This the place?" Noctis asked as they dismounted their chocobos. The birds seemed ruffled when they'd tried to get them to pass through the gate to get to their destination, kwehing indignantly.

Ignis gracefully slid off of his own, giving its gentle blue feathers a few soft strokes, "Yes, I believe this is the entrance to the Balouve Mines."

“Are you sure?” Prompto drawled from atop his minty green bird.

"The marshal seemed confident that a royal tomb was located within the deepest recesses of the mines," Ignis supplied as his chocobo started back towards the haven.

Prompto gave the distant entrance a suspicious squint, “Looks more like the entrance to a dungeon than an abandoned mine.”

“Then what’s all the mining equipment doing here?” Gladio asked rhetorically, and yet the blond answered anyways.

“Scary decorations to keep away people who want to go in?” He grinned at the big guy even though the corners of his lips seemed pulled a little too tightly. “You know, like us, for example.”

Gladio rolled his eyes and dismounted his own chocobo, several brilliantly red feathers clinging to his grey sweatpants. He grumbled under his breath as he plucked them off, walking towards where Ignis and Noctis were waiting. Prompto slid off his bird and bounced on his heels, the chocobo turning its head to chirp happily at him and preen his hair. Laughter bubbled past Prompto’s lips and he finally managed to escape.

“Be good while I’m gone, Jezi!” He called back to her, and she called back, fluffing up her wings before she turned and bounded after the other chocobos towards the haven. “Wow. That might be the oldest elevator I’ve ever seen,” Prompto said, clearly unimpressed, as their eyes adjusted to the dim lighting inside the entrance.

“Might still work,” Ignis replied, though he sounded a little doubtful himself.

“Hop on and find out,” Gladio added, smirking as he gave Prompto a nudge towards the elevator. The younger man gave a strangled noise and scrambled backwards, giving Gladio a weak slap on the bicep as the taller man laughed. Noctis wandered over to the rusty control panel to the left of the elevator, squinting at the faded writing beneath the buttons.

“I think this one is to open the doors,” he said to no one in particular, pressing the button.

The metal doors to the elevator creaked open loudly, and Prompto took a step back, “Woah… this thing’s _ancient.”_ He swallowed nervously and eyed it from a safe distance. “You sure it’s safe?”

“Only one way to find out,” Gladio said and stepped into the compartment. It held easily, so he motioned the others to step in.

Once they were all in, Ignis turned to the control panel on the inside, “It appears there are four floors available to us. Which should we go to?”

“How about the first floor?” Noctis replied. “Make our way down one floor at a time.”

“First floor sounds good, I like the first floor.” Prompto cut in, chuckling as he fidgeted. “You know, close to the top in case there’s like, a cave-in or something and we don’t get buried miles beneath the surface… with no way out…. unable to… breathe…” He swallowed as he started shaking, and Ignis put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll be fine. It may be underground, but mining shafts are rarely constructed of constrained diameters. It would be difficult to move the rubble and mined goods around if that were the case,” he said, and Prompto looked consoled at this, nodding and taking a few steadying breaths.

“All aboard, huh?” Prompto said quietly once Ignis pressed the button for B1 Floor and the elevator closed its doors and began its descent.

“What, afraid it can’t take our weight?” Gladio jibbed.

“More likely to become stuck,” Ignis said, examining the joints and wiring.

Prompto swallowed again, “I can live with stuck.”

Noctis looked down at the metal flooring, noting how worn and ragged it was, “This thing’s been around a while.”

Ignis hummed in agreement, “I can only guess when they began mining here.”

“Know what sorta place this is?” Prompto cut in again, crossing his arms when Gladio cut him off.

“The sort that’s infested with bloodthristy daemons,” he grinned as the blood drained from Prompto’s face, leaning in towards him a bit. “Am I warm?”

“Red hot, I’d say,” Noctis grumbled.

Prompto’s mouth opened and close a few times before he huffed, turning away, “Gimme a break…”

Ignis groaned at their bickering, “There’s no telling how deep this shaft goes.”

“All the way to hell,” Gladio rumbled. No sooner had he said those words did their descent lag, and they saw the darkness of an opening by the doors drift up from the floor until it swallowed the entrance to the elevator like a hungry midgardsormr.

“Here we are…” Ignis said, though his voice was a bit hushed.

Gladio grunted, “Could always take it down deeper.”

Prompto glared at him from the back, but Noctis could hear the apprehension in his voice, “Bit of a ‘shot in the dark’, don’tcha think?”

Noctis shrugged and said, “This’ll do.” With that, Ignis pressed the button to open the doors and with a stuttered whine, the doors creaked open. He flicked on the light of his jacket flashlight, illuminating the space before them. Another control panel on their right by some steel beams, two giant metal container of something to their left, and in front was a stretch of railroad that disappeared into the darkness where his flashlight could not reach. He stepped out carefully, ready to summon a weapon should they get jumped, but nothing happened. The only noise was that of the occasional condensation accumulating on the stalactites dropping to the stalagmites below and that of their own footfalls.

“It’s quiet,” Ignis said, just loud enough for them all to hear. His perceptive gaze scanned the room as he came to stand next to Noctis, “Too quiet.”

“Baddies could pounce anytime from anywhere,” Gladio agreed, already half-crouched and ready to summon his greatsword. “Keep your heads on a swivel.”

So they set forward. Not too far along was an old mining cart, the once blue paint now faded to a dusty grey and chipped with rust.

“The tracks are laid out for us,” Ignis commented, going around the cart by the wall.

Prompto eyed the object warily, “Is this… a mine cart?”

Gladio gave the thing a kick, but it didn’t even budge, “That’s how they shipped out whatever they dug up.” Noctis hummed but said nothing, going around the cart and staying away from the rails. A glow in the darkness caught his eye, something reflecting the light of his flashlight off to the left, down a metal corridor. He turned on his heel for it, and Ignis followed him. It was tucked into the corner, and he bent down to grab it.

“A Rainbow Pendant,” Ignis said as Noctis stood up with the item. “They’re said to be infused with magic that protects the wearer from confusion.”

“Handy,” Noctis said, handing it to Ignis before he started back to where Prompto and Gladio were waiting. “But we’ve already got some good gear on us already.”

“Woah, uh, anyone hear that rumbling?” Prompto asked, looking around. Sure enough, the sound of something rumbling was surrounding them, echoing so they couldn’t pinpoint its source.

“Something’s coming towards us,” Ignis hissed, readying his stance.

Prompto made to stand by him, already pulling his gun out of the ether and readying it, “Whatever it is, it’s moving pretty damn fast!”

The sound grew louder, but Noctis still couldn’t figure out exactly where it was coming from.

It was Gladio who first figured it out, whipping around to look down the hallway where the elevator was, “From behind - look out!”

Instinctively, Noctis phased away from the tracks, right as the minecart that not even Gladio had managed to move earlier zoomed by him, passing through the echo of his shape. As he jumped back for extra measure. The others had been far enough away that it had missed them easily, and they came over to him.

“I doubt the cart started moving on its own,” Gladio grumbled, looking towards where the cart had disappeared down the other hall.

Ignis nodded in agreement, “Something - or some _one_ \- moved it.”

“Let’s hope they stay hidden then,” Noctis said, glancing at the giant fan embedded in the wall, a spotlight from the other side shining through as the giant, dirty blades rotated as if they were brand new, the light flickering against the floor they stood on. He pinched his lips a little tighter together, “Come on.” They moved more cautiously along the rails, but the rumbling was suddenly there again.

“Coming right back again,” Gladio growled as he summoned his greatsword.

“Look out!” Prompto yelped as he dove for the side at the same time Gladio shouted, “Incoming!” Noctis sidestepped this time, pressing himself against the walls of the corridor. Prompto and Ignis did the same across from him, but Gladio was still standing on the rail and planted his sword in the floor between rail boards, bracing himself against the cart.

“Gladio!” Ignis called, but the vehicle struck the sword, and Gladio grunted loudly but managed to stay in place. The cart jerked to a stop, and Gladio peered in to make sure it was empty before he wrenched his sword out and used it to knock the cart clean off the rails onto its side.

“There,” he huffed as he stood up, dismissing his weapon. “That should keep it from being shoved around anymore.”

“Nice work, Gladio,” Noctis called as he peeled himself away from the wall.

“Woo, yeah!” Prompto cheered, jogging over to give the taller man a playful punch on the shoulder, “I knew having a behemoth on the team would come in handy!”

“Oh yeah? Well, maybe _you_ can stop the next cart, Prompto!” Gladio responded as he grabbed the other in a headlock and ruffled his hair, causing Prompto to squawk in indignation.

“Boys, please,” Ignis sighed, adjusting his glasses.

“Aw just leave ‘em, Specs,” Noctis said, giving the other’s shoulder a tap as he turned to continue down the corridor. He could still hear Gladio and Prompto squabbling behind him when he spotted the entrance to another room, his light reflecting on another object sitting on the tracks. “Is that… another mining cart?” He’d hardly gotten the words out when a goblin appeared from inside it and jumped out, two more shoving the cart forward as hard as they could.

“Noct, look out!” Ignis cried, but Noctis was too close to it. He’d been off to the side, so it only clipped him, but sent him slamming into the wall from the force anyways. Pain flooded his left arm and shoulder, and he choked on an undignified cry. Ignis managed to slide out of the way, and his shout to warn Noctis had given the two behind him a heads up, and they plastered themselves to the wall right before the car whizzed past them. Ignis was by his side in a second, throwing a dagger into the head of a goblin . It screamed and disintegrated, leaving Ignis’ weapon to clatter to the ground and the brunet resummoned it. The other two goblins charged forwards, but two shots rang out behind Ignis and they both fell, turning to flakey ash.

“And I knew having a sharpshooter on the team would come in handy,” Gladio said, clapping the blond on the back with his praise as he laughed.

Ignis turned back to Noctis, keeping his daggers at his side, “Noct, where does hurt.”

Noctis at least at the energy to roll his eyes, “I’m fine, it just clipped my arm.” He quickly continued as his advisor opened his mouth to protest, “Just give me a potion and I’m good to go. We just went shopping; we’ve got plenty.”

Ignis looked like he wanted to protest but retrieved a potion from the ether anyway, handing it to the ravenet. Noctis crushed it and the contents become a blue and green haze that quickly enveloped him. The pain in his arm and shoulder subsided completely, as did the bruises that had already formed from the hit.

“Nice,” he pushed himself off the wall and moved his arm around, rotating his shoulder blade and finding everything in perfect order. “Alright, let’s keep moving.”

Ignis looked down the hall to the entrance of the room, and when they finally arrived in it, found that the rails continued down a narrow passageway to the left, while the room stretched on in front of them.

“Well, Noct?” Ignis said, looking around for other possible enemies. “Which way, left or forward?”

“I vote forward!” Prompto chirped, rounding them to get more room to himself. “More room in here.”

“Yeah, well I vote left,” Gladio said, crossing his arms. “We came to find the tomb that’s said to be in the deepest part of the mine. If we follow the tracks, it’ll bound to lead us to it.”

“And it might not,” Ignis intervened before Prompto could protest. “Mines are absolute mazes at the best of times. We need to find a map somewhere if we wish to delve any deeper without getting lost.”

“If we do get lost, we can always follow the rails to find our way back,” the tallest man said.

“Fair enough,” Noctis replied, nodding towards the left passage. “Let’s go left for now.”

They’d only gone about ten steps into the hallway when it hit a dead end.

“You were saying, big guy?” Prompto said, grinning at the other who scowled.

“As I said, mines are mazes at the best of times,” Ignis said, already turning back. “Let us see where the larger room takes us.”

They returned to the wider room and continued forward, hardly a minute passing by before they saw another light.

“Is that a light?” Prompto asked, leaning forward.

“Seems to be,” Noctis said, walking closer.

“Why is it flickering, though?” Ignis muttered as they walked closer, and as they rounded the fenced area, they saw a group of stalagmites jutting from the ground, veins of solid fire imbued in their rocky skin as the flames licked their sides. “Ah, an elemental deposit.”

“Perfect,” Noctis grinned before walking up to it. “This is just what I needed to finish that firaga spell.” He held out his hand and closed his eyes, using his bond with the crystal to draw the power from the deposit into himself. After a few moments, he felt it taper off, the magic drained from the rocky outcrop and into his own being. Without the light and warmth from the fire deposit, the tunnel seemed far less welcoming.

Noctis drew a magic flask from the ether and set to work right there, pouring enough of his stored fire magic into it to make the spell before mixing it with a few muscle stimulants. The magic changed from orange and red to blue and white, hot to the touch even inside the flask.

“Show off,” Gladio chuckled.

“Takes one to know one,” Noctis said before he dismissed the flask back into the ether. “Seems like that’s the end of the road for this room, though. Might as well head down.”

“Well, down and down we go,” Ignis said as they headed into the tunnel.

“Augh, do we have to?” Prompto groaned loudly but followed them all the same.

Noctis snickered and looked over his shoulder at his friend, “You know the answer to that.”

They walked until they saw a large divot in the ground filled with water, peering up to see it leaking from the ceiling in rivulets.

“Well that can’t be good,” Gladio grumbled, eyeing the cracks in the ceiling where the water was coming from.

“Indeed. We must be underneath the nearby lake. It must have eroded the ground over the years and finally is starting to break through the tunnel’s ceiling.” Ignis narrowed his eyes and turned to the rest of them, “Tread carefully, even if we should engage in battle. We don’t want to cause a cave-in.” They all nodded and moved on.

Towards the end of the hall, they heard a rumbling. Experienced with the sound by now, they all lept backwards as a cart rushed by, an imp cackling from inside it before it hit the brakes and jumped out.

“Again, seriously?” Prompto whined, drawing his guns despite his complaints as more goblins rushed down the hall towards them. He started firing off rounds, careful not to hit the others as they charged in for closer attacks. The goblins were all soon slain, their dying laughter still echoing off the granite walls. “Well, now which way?” He asked.

“Left,” Gladio said immediately.

“But that’s where all the goblins came from!” Prompto whined. “What if there’s _more?”_

“You asked a question, I answered it!” Gladio huffed back. “Why ask if you don’t want to know?”

“Because I was _hoping_ the answer would be ‘back to the surface’.”

“Not likely.”

“Let’s try right,” Noctis said, cutting off any more arguing. “I think I see a light up ahead.”

He was right, there had been a small light among a mess of wires and steel beams, along with a chrome bit tucked in among the wires. The light cast wobbly shadows among them, and it made Noctis feel a little uneasy.

“Ramshackle, to say the least,” Ignis said as he entered the slightly wider bit of hallway.

Prompto scoffed, looking around warily, “Yeah, with plenty of nooks and crannies for things to jump out at you.”

“Come on, let’s keep going,” Noctis said, ruffling his friend's hair as he made to continue down the hall. It soon stopped abruptly, but this time not by a wall.

 _“Another_ elevator?” Prompto groaned. “Have we not suffered enough.”

“Welp, let’s see where it leads,” Noctis said and found the button on the control panel to open the doors. They seemed to open easier than the ones that had brought them into the mines, so Noctis took a little solace in that.

“Wait, Noct,” Ignis said as he stepped into the elevator. He was looking down at the little lights next to the elevators inside panel. The light next to B2 was already lit up. “It appears we are already on the second floor.”

“Not surprising,” Gladio said as he entered. “We did go down that tunnel that dropped us down a bit.”

“So do we go down some more?” Prompto asked as he slipped inside before mumbling, “Please say up, please say up, please say up…”

Noctis hit the button to close the doors before he turned and grinned at him, “It’s a _stairway_ to heaven, Prom. This is the elevator to hell.” And with that, he clicked the button for B3. The blond yelped at the initial lurch before they began a gentle descent, and they found themselves quickly standing before the opening to another corridor. Another pile of steel beams lay scattered to the right, but this hallway was far too small to hold the large metal containers as the first floor had. And as before, a railway stretched before them into the darkness.

No sooner had they taken a few steps into the darkness did another cart come crashing down the hall, this time slamming into not just Noct, but also Prompto and Ignis, even grazing Gladio. The wind was knocked from his lungs as he felt his back his the floor, and he struggled against something small clinging to his leg. Gasping for breath, he rolled and kicked hoping to get it off. He felt his other foot connect with something solid and heard a shrill yelp as whatever was on his leg let go, and he quickly stood up to find an goblin rolling around on the floor like an overturned beetle. He threw a dagger at it and it choked on a scream before disappearing into nothingness. He saw Ignis and Prompto finish off three more as Gladio’ blade swung clean through another’s neck, the body falling to one side as the head rolled to the other before they both melted away. The remaining goblins scattered into the darkness, their laughter and yelps echoing off the walls, making it impossible to follow them.

“Alright, this is getting old,” Gladio grunted as Ignis handed him a potion. He also handed one to Prompto, who took it gratefully and crushed it, sighing contentedly as the green haze covered him.

“Here,” Ignis said as he came over to where Noctis was leaning against the wall, still panting softly. Noctis took the potion with a smile, crushing it easily and mimicking Prompto’s sigh.

“Thanks, Iggy,” he said, clapping a hand onto Ignis’ shoulder as the older helped him right himself properly.

“Of course,” the advisor replied.

“So the next time we find the elevator, your answer is gunna be ‘up’, right?” Prompto asked as put his hands on his hips and pouted.

“We’ve yet to get what we came here for,” Ignis replied in his stead.

Prompto hung his head, “Aw man, why do we have to do all the hard work?”

They walked further along the corridor, which seemed to wind this way and that without any outlets. There were no lights save for their own, and despite this, no more goblins or other daemons decided to jump out at them.

“Feels like we’re exploring the mine forgotten by time,” Noctis drawled, yawning.

“This place is so old,” Prompto added, “I’d be surprised if there isn’t treasure here.”

They kept on until they finally came to an outlet into a larger room where evidence of rubble suggested cave-ins earlier in time. Noctis heard a chuckling from ahead, accompanied with the rumblings of the tell-tale wild cart. He easily stepped out of the way, followed by the others, and the cart zoomed harmlessly by them. Hisses of frustration could be heard ahead, and he summoned his sword. He could just barely make out the beady eyes of a goblin and without hesitation, threw his sword and warped right into it. Its scream fell to a gargle before it fell silent, but the noise had easily alerted every other goblin in the room.

Turns out, that was a whole lot of goblins.

It seemed like they had stumbled upon their nesting site. They were all swarmed with tiny claws and grabby fingers, high-pitched laughter filling the room to an almost deafening volume.

“Noct!” He thought he heard Gladio shouting, trying to make his way towards him through the throng of goblins, but there were too many. They were everywhere. Noctis couldn’t even get enough momentum to swing his sword.

Then he remembered the spell he’d just conjured up two floors up.

“Hey!” He tried calling to the others, already reaching out into the ether for the spell. “Get back! I’m using a spell!”

He thought he heard Ignis shout something at him, he thought he heard the word danger, but his stomach was starting to flip with anxiety and his senses were overloaded with all the noise, making his head buzz with static. He didn’t have a choice right now, he couldn’t fight. He could only hope his friends were out of range of the spell and that Ignis had a phoenix down on him because this sure as hell was going to hurt.

He felt the spell materialize in his hand, peeling it out of the throng of snappy fingers and clicking shark teeth to raise it up to strike, but before he had even brought his hand down an inch, it was empty.

He whipped around and saw a goblin had snatched the spell right out of his hand, holding on to one of the lights lining the ceiling and cackling.

“Shit-!” Was all he got out before the spell exploded in the goblin's hand.

Fire exploded everywhere, bright blue and white hot. It rained down on him and all the goblins like a volley of flaming arrows, setting everything ablaze. He felt the flames lick his limbs and hiss as it latched onto his clothing, and he yelped as he tried desperately to get away from it. The force of the explosion ricocheted everywhere, and huge cracks splintered along the ceiling like ice in hot water, branching out like a spider web. It creaked and crumbled above the screaming mess, before it all came crashing down.

“Noct!” Prompto screamed, his voice lost in the thunderous avalanche of stone. He made to dash forward but Gladio grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back, even doing the same to Ignis who had also tried to surge forward to save their friend. The floor caved beneath all the weight, crumbling down below to the very bottom floor of the mines and taking every last flaming rock, goblin, and prince with it.

“Noctis!” Ignis cried, and Gladio grit his teeth as he struggled to hold on to his two friends without giving in to the urge to dive headfirst into the mess to save his prince. The rumbling soon stopped as the damage against the ceiling wore thin, and the hole in the floor emptied out.

Dust and smoke filled the room, making it difficult to see anything or even breathe. The three friends were crouched together, Gladio’ arms protectively hovering over both of them as they waited out the last of the cave-in. He chanced a look up and saw that a few mere crumbs were trickling down off the hole in the ceiling, falling into the dark pit below that cut across the room like a gaping wound.

“Noct…?” Prompto whimpered, looking up but no longer trying to make a move forward.

“Noctis,” Ignis croaked, getting one foot underneath him but making no move to stand. All of them were still in shock of what had just happened, staring into the dark abyss their friend had just been swallowed by.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis wakes up disoriented at the bottom of the Balouve Mines after a cave-in, but that's the least of his worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of gore in the second part, oops. I'm very descriptive with imagery so if **blood, trauma, shock, or heavy damage to the body** bother you, stop reading at "...where he felt the tugging keeping him down." and it's safe to start again at "Ignis wasted no time..."

When Noctis drifted back to consciousness, it was like pushing against a heavy burden. Almost as heavy as the damn crown he was forced to inherit, or the grief of losing his father and home. He wanted to go back to sleep but something was nagging at him to wake up. A soft chirp in his ear, and something nudging his cheek. He thought he felt fur against his skin but all of his senses were particularly dull right now. Still, whatever it was that was trying to wake him, it was annoyingly persistent. So he carefully opened his eyes to see dirt and rubble all around him, mixed with some flickering remains of fire magic. The steel bits of railing lay strewn about as well, but no annoying, furry little creatures to be seen.

He managed to get an arm underneath him and felt something dribble out of his lips, yet couldn’t find the focus to care. His head started throbbing almost as soon as he’d opened his eyes, his tear ducts brimming to clear them of the dust.

“Must have fallen down a mine shaft,” he grunted to himself. “Gotta… get back to the others.” He forced himself up further with shaking arms, only managing a few inches before something tugged at his right side, keeping him down. He heard a series of wet plops coming from below him, and for the first time he noticed how heavily the taste of iron clung to his tongue, thick with blood. He felt it well up and ooze between his teeth, drooling over his lips and down his chin like a messy infant who didn’t know how to eat properly.

He paused before slowly turning to look at his right side where he felt the tugging keeping him down.

“You’ve… gotta be… joking,” he grit out, eyes widening as he looked at the steel beam that had impaled itself into his right side, going all the way through the other side and creating an indent in the ground. Blood welled up from the wound all around it, soaking his clothes and the dark metal protruding through him.

Everything came rushing back at once: the memories of the fight, the explosion, the collapse, and every single nerve ending had finally woken up and screamed in harmony.

He tried to scream but could only gargle some noise of pain, arms suddenly vibrating with the effort to keep himself up. Shock rolled over him in waves, ice cold and filled with nausea, but he didn’t think his stomach could get anything up with a steel beam partially blocking the way. He collapsed onto his side, hearing the metal scrape against the granite floor and reverberate through his body. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably now, his vision swimming as panic set in. He felt his eyes roll back in his head and darkness swarmed his vision.

 _No,_ he thought, gritting his teeth as he forcefully drew a breath. _They need me. I can’t die here. I won’t!_ He struggled to get a shaking hand underneath his shoulder, using it to slowly leverage himself up. _I won’t die, not over something like this._ He channeled some fire magic into his other hand, reaching back to place it on the steel beam. _C’mon Noct. Remember those dumb chemistry lessons with Iggy. Metal expands when heated, which makes it easier to cut through because the molecules are farther part and less dense._

He heard a pop, like flexing plastic, and felt it under his hand. He tried pouring more heat into his hand, and after a little while, the metal seemed to bend with the weight of itself. He quickly dismissed the fire magic and summoned a dagger, slicing through the metal like moist clay. The other end clattered to the ground and while he still had a good chunk of metal embedded in his side, at least it would be easier to get out.

But that was as much strength as he had in him, and he let his arm drop in front of him as he collapsed onto his side again. His dagger clattered to the ground and he didn’t even have the energy to dismiss it back to the armiger. Spots clouded his vision as his breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. Dreams tugged at him, softly cooed for him to let go and fall into their waiting arms. But he couldn’t. Not yet. He had to stay awake until the others found him.

He fell into a state of limbo after that, not quite awake but too stubborn to pass out. Desperate to see his friends again, even if this was going to be the last time. His sense of time was all but thrown out the window, and what could have only been moments or an hour, he heard the blessed sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps, and the call of his name by voices that were so achingly familiar, that even through their panicked tones it sounded like coming home.

“Noct,” came a gentle voice to his right, a shaking hand delicately taking hold of his face. “Noctis.”

It was only out of his dire need to see the owner of that voice that he managed to open his eyes. Ignis’s face stared down at him, tears brimming behind smudged and dirty glasses, bits of rubble and dust in his hair weighing it down and ruining his usual style. Noctis couldn’t help it; he smiled. A very small, weak smile, so that it was just barely there, but it was the best he could manage.

“Hey,” he whispered. “You found me.”

He heard Gladio and Prompto come up behind him them, both of them stopping short. Prompto’s sharp intake of breath was followed by a sob that sounded muffled behind something, Gladio grit his teeth and stalked over to the nearest wall, slamming his fist against it, “Damn it!”

“Noct,” Ignis said gently, drawing his focus back to him as he realized it had been slipping away. He sounded so sad, but the fingers he ran through Noctis’ hair were so nice.

“Iggy,” he croaked. “Pull it out.”

“What? No!” Ignis said immediately and Noctis wanted to laugh because he knew he’d said that, but he couldn’t find the energy to offer so much as a chuckle. “Noct, you’ll die if I pull it out. You’d bleed to death in a matter of seconds.”

“Already gunna die, Ignis,” Noctis said softly, and yet it was so accepting, so matter-of-fact that it silenced any retort Ignis had been about to use. Prompto made a strangled noise and fell to his knees as tears leaked down his face. Noctis looked back at Ignis, “I got a plan.”

Ignis narrowed his eyes, “What kind of plan?”

“Pull it out. Once ‘m free,” he was struggling for breath now, and Ignis clawed at the unrelenting floor as he continued grazing his fingers through the other’s hair while he spoke. “Make me use a ‘down an’a... max ‘lixir.” He was slurring now, his words oily and his tongue refusing to properly form the words as his eyelids grew heavy. “Should… do the trick…”

Ignis’ brain was doubling it’s already rapid fire thinking, trying to come up with a better way to save Noctis. But he was coming up with nothing. They were at the bottom of the Balouve mines, and it would take them ten minutes to even make their way back to the elevator and then even more time to get to the surface. Not to mention they were out in the middle of nowhere and _hours_ from Lestallum’s hospital and _Six_ there was just so much _blood-_

His mind suddenly went blank as a hand touched his face, and he blinked down to see Noct smiling softly at him, his fingers gently resting on Ignis’ cheek. The brunet reached up with one hand and grasped Noctis’, his face contorting in pain to see the other like this. He scrunched his eyes closed and gathered his resolve, taking a breath and letting it out slowly. He opened his eyes again, forcing down the wave of panic and fear that was clawing at his throat.

“Gladio,” he said, and even though he didn’t raise his voice, the other stopped pounding at the wall and turned back to him. “Some assistance, please.”

Gladio walked over mechanically, glancing at Prompto who had stopped sobbing and was now looking at Noctis and Ignis with a thousand yard stare, cheeks draped in tear stains that still reflected the light of his flashlight.

Gladio stood behind Ignis, shamefully using the advisors body to block his view of Noctis’ wound, “Yeah?”

“I need you to pull out the steel beam for me.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” Gladio snapped, making Prompto jump and look up at them. “We can’t pull it out, he’ll _die!”_

“He is already on death’s doorstep, Gladiolus!” Ignis snapped back. “I think I can save him but we have to get the wound clear of foreign objects first!”

Gladio jerked at the tone Ignis used, the same one as his father when he was being unreasonable and needed Gladio to pull his head out of his ass and follow orders. He set his jaw and finally moved around to kneel in front of Noctis as Ignis moved behind, supporting him to sit up as he did so.

“So… what’s the plan?” Gladio asked, voice hard.

“You’re going to pull the metal out of him, and once he’s free, I’m going to make him use a phoenix down followed by a max elixir.”

Gladio eyed him nervously, “Will that work.”

Ignis paused and that made Gladio even more nervous, “Hopefully.” He looked up and met Gladio’s amber eyes, his own hardening with resolve. “It’s our only chance.”

Gladio grit his teeth and bowed his head in resignation, “Fine. Let’s do this.” Ignis nodded and gently maneuvered himself behind Noctis, leveraging the other up so that he was resting on the brunet's front. Gladio kneeled in front of them and wrapped both hands on the bent piece of metal sticking out of Noctis’ gut, “Noct, you ready for this?”

“As I’ll… ever be,” he gasped out, lying limp in Ignis’s arms. Ignis summoned a phoenix down and a max elixir from the ether, holding them both in one hand so as to use the other to keep a hold on Noctis, knowing he might struggle once they were actually pulling the steel beam from him. He looked down at Noctis’ pale face dripping with sweat, the blood on his chin that stayed wet from recurring dribbles, and then he looked at Gladio and nodded once.

Gladio’s grip tightened and slowly, he started to pull the offending piece of metal out of Noctis’ body.

Fire ignited within him, pain screaming at every neuron it could get ahold of. It hurt so much, suddenly going from a dull throb to absolute agony as soon as Gladio had started pulling. His whole body tensed and his brain was screaming to move, _run,_ get away from this pain as fast as he could and never look back. Ignis’ grip on his shoulder tightened, and he grit his teeth as Noctis shrieked. The sound echoed in the mine, sharp and raw and desperate, bouncing off the walls and back at them amplified. Prompto clapped his hands to his ears and tried to sink his head into his shoulders, anything to drown out that horrible, heart-wrenching sound.

More blood spurted out of the edges of the wound as Gladio pulled more of the beam out. Noctis was hyper aware of the metal sliding through his body and passing through his organs, and yet he could hardly hear a thing.

Moments after he started pulling, Gladio felt the beam come free, pulling it all the way out with a final splatter of blood as he shouted, “Ignis, now!”

Ignis wasted no time in shoving the phoenix down into Noctis’ hand and watching the golden flames envelope his body. He didn’t even wait to see how much the ‘down had done before he was shoving an elixir into Noctis’ hands and forcing him to crush it. The gold was replaced by a gentle green and then it was gone, the only light being that of their own flashlights. A moment passed in tense silence, all three men watching Noctis’ limp body.

“Is he…?” Prompto asks brokenly from where he was still kneeling, hands still pressed flat to his ears as he stared at Noctis’ limp form. Gladio was still half-kneeling, holding the metal beam dripping with blood as Ignis pressed two fingers to the sweaty expanse of Noctis’ neck. Ignis could feel a bead of sweat roll down his temple, waiting.

There. A heartbeat. Weak, but still there. Another moment, then another heartbeat. It continued, and Ignis let his hand drop as he sighed in relief.

“He’s alive,” he whispered.

He heard a clatter of metal in front of him and looked up to see Gladio had collapsed backwards onto his behind, the metal beam dropped to the floor as the man sagged in relief, his arms shaking as he leaned back on them. Prompto started crying again, his hands moving from his ears to his arms, hugging himself as he bowed over with sobs. Ignis reached down with still-shaking fingers and peeled back the ripped edges of Noctis’ shirt. The injury was now no more than a bright pink scar, shiny and fresh, albeit still covered in blood in some places. Noctis’ breathing was shallow but soft, his eyes closed and face slack. Hard to believe a mere moment ago he had been writhing around and screaming himself raw. Now, he just looked asleep.

“We have to get him out of here,” Ignis said, reaching over to the abandoned dagger next to Noctis and dismissing it to the armiger. “The wound is healed but he no doubt must have gone through shock after receiving that injury, not to mention all the blood he’s lost.”

“I’ll carry him,” Gladio said lowly, moving to stand.

“You should carry him on your back,” Ignis said. “It will be easier and also give you the freedom to draw your sword, should you need it.” Gladio nodded and turned around, crouching a bit with his arms held out behind him. Ignis very gently picked up Noctis and laid him on Gladio’s back, making sure his arms were securely draped over Gladio’s shoulders. And though Gladio would never admit it, he took great comfort in feeling Noctis’ breath drift across his neck with each strained puff.

Ignis walked over to Prompto and crouched down in front of him, avoiding contact for the moment. “Prompto?” He said softly, trying to get the sobbing boy’s attention. “Prom,” he said softer, and this time the blond managed to lift his head to look at him. His face was a ravaged mess of tears, his eyes absolutely bloodshot, and his skin flushed and sweaty. A hiccup escaped his lips, chewed raw as he’d tried to choke back sobs before giving up. “Oh, prom,” he offered his hand, and Prompto latched onto it, intertwining their fingers as he struggled against a new onslaught of tears. Ignis ran his thumb over the back of his hand, using his free hand to run his fingers through blond hair. He absently wondered how, through that entire ordeal, had he not managed to get blood all over his hands while it was absolutely covering his front.

He managed to get Prompto to stand and, messy and exhausted though they all were, they started back the way they came. Ignis and Prompto had their weapons out to protect Gladio and Noctis if need be, but it seemed all the goblins had been scared off or killed and they made it back to the surface without incident.

It was evening when they came out, the sun starting to sink below the horizon and throwing beautiful rays of red, orange, and gold across the sky as a parting gift until the morning. They hustled back to the haven as quickly as they could, thanking the Six that they’d decided to leave the camping equipment out.

“Put him in the tent,” Ignis instructed Gladio as he led Prompto into his chair by the fire. “And remove those dirty clothes from him, please. I want to see if they’re salvageable after I clean the wound.”

“Sure thing,” Gladio replied before easing Noctis off his back and into the tent.

Ignis handed Prompto a bottle of water, insisting when Prompto tried to turn it away, “You expelled a lot of fluids today and we all missed lunch. Drink the whole thing.” Though his tone left no room for argument, it wasn’t angry or sharp. Prompto took the water bottle and unscrewed the top, taking a few small sips from it. Once Ignis was sure Prompto would keep drinking if he walked away, he retrieved some more water bottles and fresh hand towels, grabbing the first-aid kit for good measure.

He slipped into the tent to find Gladio sitting hunched over Noctis’s limp form, his fingers hovering over the bloody scar where a steel beam had been not too long before. Ignis put his his things down and settled beside him, reaching over to wrap his hand around Gladio’s. The bulky man flinched and turned to look at Ignis, who was still looking at Noctis.

“You’d never even know he was on the brink of death at the bottom of a mine not an hour ago,” the brunet said quietly. His smile sad as he brokenly admitted: “I… honestly believed he wouldn’t make it.”

Gladio’s only response was his grip tightening on ignis’ hand.

Ignis looked back over at him, still smiling, “I know you must be blaming yourself. I know I am. But under the circumstances, I think we did all we could.” The dark-haired man simply nodded, releasing Ignis’s hand so he could set to work cleaning the area of the wound.

Ignis found the front and back wounds had completely healed, though they left some ugly scarring behind. It probably could have been avoided if he’d let the phoenix down do its job before using the max elixir. The combined force of both healing additives made the skin stitch back together too quickly, causing it to scar. Then again, Noctis might not have survived if he’d waited. He rolled the bloody towels up and tossed them to the side to be washed later, peeling off his gloves as he did so. He sighed tiredly, removing his glasses to rub at his aching eyes when a warm weight settled against his back.

Gladio moved his hand in slow circles, reaching over with his free hand to put Ignis’ glasses aside and take his hand in his own, “He would really be lost without you, Iggy.”

Heat prickled behind his eyes, a feeling he had long since forgotten, “No, it is _I_ who would be lost without him.” Before he could stop them, tears welled up and spilled over. He choked on a sob, his free hand moving from his eyes to his mouth to cover the sounds. Gladio pulled the brunet to him, let him muffle his cries into his shoulder, hoping Ignis wouldn’t notice his own tears falling into his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I usually don't write this kind of thing anymore, but it was kinda fun describing all these heavy feels and physical trauma. Granted, I'm not a doctor or anything, so my description of how things went down is probably wrong. Still fun, though!
> 
> Hit me up on [Twitter](twitter.com/WindyWordz) or [Tumblr](windywordz.tumblr.com) :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some aftercare to the emotional trauma everyone had to go through (and physical trauma for Noct).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> News Flash, Noct: Nobody's okay. Stop tryin' to pretend you're fine. Everyone's hurting but at least you have each other.

Consciousness came much easier this time. Last time it was like an assigned task he’d dreaded having to do, but now it felt more like someone guiding him towards it with a gentle hand. He took an extra deep breath and a tingle of warmth spread over his body. It felt like the source of warmth was coming from his left side, and he tried to nuzzle into it. The warmth mumbled incoherently and something pleasantly weighted was draped over his chest, making him hum contentedly.

There was a cool, refreshing breeze that swept over him, carrying the tantalizing scent of hot food and fresh spices. He didn’t want to open his eyes yet, but the smell was too good. Carefully, he peeled open his eyes, blinking sluggishly to clear his vision. Was that… the tent? Were they at camp? But they had been going to the Balouve mines to search for a royal tomb. Why were they back-

Memories came flooding back to him and he scrunched his eyes closed. There was the explosion, and he remembered falling, and waking up to find a steel beam in his gut. Ignis had found him first, and Gladio had pulled the beam out. Then it was blank. He groaned, and sluggishly moved a hand to his face to rub it, as if he could wipe away the unpleasant images in his head.

“Finally awake?” He heard from the opening of the tent, followed by the rustling of the tent flap and the smell of food getting stronger. Ignis appeared in his vision, his attire clean and pristine, and his hair perfectly styled, as usual.

Noctis hummed and blinked over at him, “Time’s it?”

Ignis smiled, “It is about eleven o’clock in the morning and I was just about to rouse Prompto for some lunch.” He nodded towards the other side of Noctis, and the ravenet turned to see a mess of blond hair sprawled over him, the gentle slope of a shoulder rising and falling softly. He finally registered that the pleasant weight over his chest was Prompto’s arm. “He only just fell asleep last night, so I thought I’d let him sleep in.”

“Uh, how long was I out?” Noctis asked warily, turning back to Ignis.

“About three days, I’m afraid.”

Noctis’ eyes widened, “Three _days?”_

Ignis pulled in one corner of his lips in a sort-of frown, “Well, yes. You almost died, went through shock, and lost quite a bit of blood. I’m surprised you didn’t sleep longer, in all honesty.”

Noctis threw an arm over his eyes, “I couldn’t. I smelled the food.”

That made Ignis laugh, a rich, ringing sound that Noctis hadn’t heard since they received news of the fall of Insomnia. He smiled back at Ignis and felt Prompto stir beside him.

The blond sluggishly lifted his head, blinking at Ignis, “Oh, mornin’ Iggy. Guess I overslept.” He looked over at Noctis, “Hey Noct.” Ignis and Noctis shared a look while Prompto yawned. It only took a moment, and then Prompto was bolting up and looking down at Noctis like he’d just witnessed a miracle, “Holy shit, Noct! You’re okay! I mean, of course you’re okay what with Iggy bein’ at your side for like, every second of the day and Gladio goin out for supply runs for whatever Ignis needed but that’s besides the point, man. Like, we thought you were gunna _die_ but then you _didn’t!_ I mean, how crazy is that, like, you were so messed up but you still-” Prompto’s excited babble was cut off as Noctis slapped a hand to his mouth.

“Six, how do you do that?” He groaned, pouting. “Just get up and _go?_ You have like a never-ending supply of energy.”

Prompto tore the hand off his face, “Oh, well, excuse me, serial napper, but _some_ of us don’t _need_ twelve hours of sleep a day to function.”

Ignis adjust his glasses, “Prompto, you’ve been asleep for over twelve hours.”

“No way!” The blond squawked, and Noctis laughed even as Prompto attempted to smother him with a pillow, “Hey! Don’t laugh at me! You have no right!”

“So where’s Gladio?” Noctis asked once Prom finally calmed down from his pillow assault.

“He was gathering some of the last herbs I needed for the soup I was preparing.” Ignis ran a hand through the tail of his hair, “I could have done it but, well, he seemed to harbor a vast store of energy, just sitting around. So I thought it’d help him get some excess energy out.” Ignis settled a little closer, motioning towards the bedroll he was in. “Before we bring you out for lunch, however, I’d like to take a look at your wound.”

Noctis swallowed a bit at the mention of the wound. It didn’t hurt, but he was still afraid to look. Prompto didn’t seem too keen on the idea either and slipped out of the tent with a parting jibe at Noctis.

As if sensing his apprehension, Ignis put a reassuring hand on Noctis’ shoulder, “Not to worry. Your plan worked and the phoenix down and max elixir did their jobs quite well. It’s mainly rough scarring, but I’d like to make sure all is still well.” Noctis nodded and let the other pull away the bedroll and his shirt -which he noticed had been changed into his white t-shirt. He laid back and let Ignis do his check-up, avoiding looking at the area. If he could help it, he’d wait until they were at a motel or hotel bathroom to look at in in a mirror, where he’d have the privacy of a bathroom to deal with… whatever he was going to feel when he looked at it.

Ignis gave him a pat on the arm when he was done, pulling his shirt back down, “Would you like any help getting up?”

“Nah, I got it,” Noctis replied as he moved to push himself up. A wave of dizziness overtook him and he immediately stopped, one hand flying to his head as his eyes scrunched closed. “Or, you know, I’ll just stay here.”

Ignis raised a brow and then offered him his hand, “Nonsense. You’re simply lacking nourishment. We’ll fix that right away.” Noctis chuckled but took the hand, and let Ignis help him up and out of the bedroll, leading him out of the tent and into his folding chair. He felt oddly sore, the skin of his right side a little tight, but Prompto plopped down in the chair next to him and started blabbering about this new app he’d downloaded and how great it was, so he forgot it for now.

It was then that Gladio climbed the rise onto the haven, a small pouch of herbs in hand. He grinned when he saw Noctis in his chair, immediately coming over to ruffle his hair, causing Noctis to half-heartedly swat him away.

“Well, look who’s finally up!” Gladio smirked at him, “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Noctis huffed as he tried to fix his hair. “Like I haven’t heard _that_ one before.”

“But it’s a fairy tale about you! A beautiful princess cast under a spell to sleep forever until her prince charming comes to wake her.”

Noctis waggled his brows at the other, “Oh, you think I’m beautiful now?”

Gladio laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, “Hah! You wish, but you’re missing a few key gear components, highness. Though I will admit, the scar you got is pretty badass.” His hand tightened a little bit, and he dropped his voice just so, “You know, we were all really worried about you. That was some stunt you told us to pull, Noct.”

“It worked, didn’t it.?” Noctis said lowly, but he sounded unsure of himself. Gladio gave him a tighter squeeze, urging him to look at his face. His own crossed scars that decorated his face were in stark contrast in the late-morning light.

“Look, we all got scars, and they may not have good memories for their bearers, but they sure as hell have cool stories to tell.” He grinned at the younger man, standing up and putting a hand on his hip, “So, are you gunna mope over how you got it, or are you gunna embellish the heck out of its origin and make yourself look totally badass?”

Noctis scoffed, “And be a total poser like you? No way! I’m stickin to my story.”

Gladio ruffled his hair once more to the prince’s disdain, before cuffing him hard over the head.

“Hey, what was that for?” He demanded to Gladio’s back.

“Being reckless,” the other called back before turning to Ignis. “Hey, Iggy, I got the herbs you wanted.”

“Splendid, I’ll add them in and let them simmer for a bit, and then we can eat.”

“Awesome, I’m starving!”

“Me too!” Prompto chimed in, wiggling his way in between Ignis and Gladio. “Can I help with anything?”

“If you must, you can set the table,” Ignis replied.

“Ugh, but I _always_ set the table!” He eyed the pot of soup, leaning in a bit, “Can’t I help with the cooking?”

“There’s nothing let to help with,” Ignis replied, swatting Prompto’s creeping hand away, making the younger man yelp.

Gladio chuckled, “Yeah, and after your last attempt at soup, I don’t think Ignis is willing to let you help anytime soon. We still haven’t replaced that pot.”

“Yeah, well _you_ told me to turn the heat up!” Prompto pointed an accusing finger right into the older man’s face. “So I blame you.”

Noctis watched Ignis work around the squabbling, smiling to himself as he brought one ankle to rest over his knee, crossing his arms comfortably over his chest. He hadn’t even noticed he was dozing off until Ignis gently shook him awake, one hand holding a bowl of soup, the one that had just woken him now brushing back his fringe. He was surprised when cool skin pressed against his forehead, blinking hazily up at Ignis and idly wondered why his gloves were off.

Ignis hummed a frown, “You feel a bit feverish.”

“M’fine,” he mumbled, reaching up to pick off Ignis’ hand. Ignis turned his hand to wrap it around Noctis’.

He narrowed his eyes, “Your hands are cold?”

Noctis frowned and slid his hand from Ignis’ grip, “I said I’m okay, Ignis.” His voice held no bite, yet he averted his eyes, as if he could avoid the coming conversation if he just pretended Ignis wasn’t there.

“Noct,” Ignis said softly, crouching down to place the bowl of soup down, and to try and grab eye contact with the other. “You’re really not okay. You were caught in a flaming explosion that caused a cave-in, which resulted in you falling hundreds of feet and being impaled by a steel beam to bleed out over a stone floor. Forgive me if I don’t entirely believe you when you insist you’re alright.”

“Yeah dude,” Prompto said through a mouthful of food as he walked over, his own bowl of soup in hand. He managed to swallow before continuing, “It was kinda really scary, and I didn’t even have to get my hands dirty.” He grimaced and glanced back at the shield. “Gladio had to pull that thing outta you, can you imagine having to do that?”

“Not exactly in the job description to rip a piece of metal out of the future king’s stomach,” Gladio commented from his seat across the fire pit, as if he were discussing the morning news. “And Iggy’s been by your side ever since we got to camp, checking on you every other hour to make sure you’re not dead.” He looked over at Noctis, amber eyes boring into him like fish hooks, holding on so he couldn’t look away. “News flash: nobody is okay. We were all really worried about you. We thought you were dead because you went and pulled a stupid maneuver like warping into a throng of goblins-”

“I didn’t know there were that many!” Noctis cut in, but Gladio stood up to silence him.

“It doesn’t matter! You can’t just warp whenever you see an enemy. There could be dozens more waiting in the shadows that you can’t see, waiting to attack.” His lips pulled back in a snarl, “You need to remember that you don’t have to fight _alone._ You have a shield and a sword at your disposal, and if we fail, you still have the eye in the sky watching over you.” Prompto looked surprised at that, some color flushing his cheeks.

“What we’re saying, Noct,” Ignis picks up without waiting for Noctis to look at him, “Is the fact you almost died shook us deeply. We’ve been working towards recovering the crystal and Insomnia for a while, but we never really took the time to speculate what might happen if you should _actually_ perish at some point.” He reached out and took Noctis’ hands in his own. “As your councilmen, it was worrisome to think about how high the possibility that the last of the Lucis line might perish before fulfilling his duty.” His grip tightened around Noctis’ hands, he brow pinching together in a way that looked almost painful. “But as your friends,” he continued, “I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I let anything happen to you.”

Noctis flinched at that, looking down at Ignis’ face, contorted as if he was in great agony. He looked up at Prompto, who was looking off to the side with an almost heartbroken gaze, his eyes shiny. And Gladio was glaring into his bowl, as if he could intimidate it into giving him the answers he wanted.

A laugh bubbled up inside of Noctis, though he tried to restrain it. It still dribbled out, softly, almost in a broken staccato. When the three friends looked over, however, they found their prince choking back tears.

“I’m really sorry I worried you guys,” he croaked out, his hands tightening around Ignis’. “I honestly thought I was gunna die. I didn’t even think about how it would affect you. _Six,_ I’m such an _idiot.”_

“Yeah, you are,” Gladio said, setting his bowl on the ground and standing up. He walked over to stand beside Noctis, careful not to trod on his bowl of soup, and clapped a hand down supportively on his shoulder, “But you’re _our_ idiot.”

Prompto swiveled himself to the other side of Noctis, smiling even though his own eyes were brimming with tears, “Yep! Besides, you still have a country to save and a lovely Lady Luna to sweep off her feet.” He winked, and it was the most ridiculous thing that Noctis had experienced in the past week, that he actually barked out a laugh.

“I don’t know about sweeping her off her feet,” he said before Gladio ruffled his hair.

“You’re just mad she’s taller than you.”

Noctis huffed and swatted away the offending hand, “Only because she wears heels!”

“Gentlemen, let’s not rile him up before he’s had anything to eat,” Ignis interjected, reluctantly pulling his hand from Noctis’ other one, gabbing the bowl beside him and standing.

“Sorry Igster,” Gladio said, turning and returning to his own chair. Prompto laughed and did the same as Ignis handed the bowl and accompanying spoon to Noctis.

“Here, it’s anak stew,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Though I’m afraid by now it’s gotten a bit cold.”

Noctis accepted it gratefully, looking down at the almost painfully appetizing meal with an incredibly fond smile, “Thanks Ignis.”

“My pleasure,” the other replied before turning to fetch his own bowl, having made sure everyone else was settled in first. They ate as usual, conversing over nothing and everything with the added voice of Noctis for the first time in over three nights. The atmosphere felt lighter than ever, as if the pressure of a great storm had passed and left them with nothing but a few dainty clouds and a brilliant expanse of blue sky painted above them.

After a while, though, Noctis could feel himsrlf flagging, limbs growing heavier. He chewed slower and swallowing became more of a chore. Ignis caught on right away, moving over to take his bowl.

“You can finish it later,” Ignis replied to the other’s groans of not being done. “You lost a lot a blood, and now that you’ve eaten, you should rest.” He went and placed the bowl on the table, but Prompto came up to him and set his empty bowl down beside it.

“No worries, Iggy, I’ll put him to bed.” He jabbed a thumb at his chest, “I was thinking of taking a nap anyways.”

“Is that so?” Ignis inquired, raising a brow. “Or perhaps you’re just trying to get out of doing dishes.”

“The world may never know!” Prompto replied, already bouncing over to Noctis. “C’mon Noct, time for beddy bye!”

“Prompto, I am twenty years old,” Noctis grumbled, allowing his friend to help him out of his chair anyways. “I can put myself to bed.”

Prompto pat arm consolingly, “Of course, buddy. Of course.” They slipped inside the tent and Prompto helped Noctis into his bedroll, haphazardly sliding into his own beside him. Noctis was well on his way to sleep when he heard Prompto’s voice again, hushed, almost imperceptible. “Noct?”

“Mm?” He hummed in response.

A moment of silence. Then, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything.”

That sobered Noctis up a bit, and he turned to his friend, “Prom-”

“Ignis was there first. He already knew what to do and how to handle the situation. Gladio was ready to trust you and Ignis enough to pull a steel beam from your guts, even if it increased the chances of you dying if it meant creating a small window to save you.” Prom’s eyes narrowed at the ceiling as his voice took on a guilty edge, “All I could do was stay out of the way and try to block out your screams of agony.”

“Prompto,” Noctis said, rolling over to face his friend. “You don’t have to do anything for me. It’s enough that you’re my friend and you’re following me on this messed up journey to save the country. Leave the messy stuff to Gladio and Ignis, alright?”

Prom looked over at him, and even in the dim light, Noctis could see the sadness in his smile, “Thanks buddy.”

“Anytime,” he said, smiling back anyways. He closed his eyes and heard Prompto shift towards him and felt an arm drape over his waist. He could hear Gladio and Ignis still chatting outside, the sound of their deep voices familiar and calming. Cool fingers skimmed through his hair soothingly, and it wasn’t long before he drifted off to sleep feeling totally safe and protected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAaaaaaand that's a wrap for this fic! Thanks everyone so much for joining in the angst and tears. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun writing it! Angst isn't really my specialty but it's nice to switch things up every once in a while. Honestly, y'all can blame Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood for this baby. It got me in a seriously emotional/angsty writing mood :D
> 
> Hit me up on [Twitter](twitter.com/WindyWordz) or [Tumblr](windywordz.tumblr.com) :D

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos and a comment if you like my writing, it really motivates me to write more!
> 
> Hit me up on [Twitter](twitter.com/WindyWordz) or [Tumblr](windywordz.tumblr.com) :D


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